Passenger rail news – Page 201
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NewsRites signs Bangladesh coach contract
BANGLADESH: India’s Rites has signed what it says is its first contract to export broad gauge passenger coaches to Bangladesh Railway. The order finalised in Dhaka covers 120 vehicles to be manufactured by RCF Kapurthala. These will be a mix of 160 km/h stainless steel sleeper and seating cars, some ...
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NewsGauge-changer installed at Belarus-Poland border
BELARUS: Belarus Railways has installed a Talgo automatic gauge-changer at Brest station, close the Polish border, and expects to obtain certification for it to be used by Talgo passenger trainsets during the first quarter of 2015 Installation required remodelling tracks and signalling and the installation of electrification equipment. The project ...
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NewsAeroexpress to pull out of Vladivostok and Kazan
RUSSIA: Airport rail link operator Aeroexpress has announced plans to cease operations in Vladivostok and Kazan and instead focus on its Moscow services, saying the regional governments have not provided subsidies needed to cover its losses. ‘We are currently working through the best way to transfer the entire service ...
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NewsBombardier and Alstom selected for SNCB double-deck order
BELGIUM: A consortium of Bombardier and Alstom has been selected as the sole shortlisted bidder for a framework contract to supply up to 1 000 double-deck coaches at an estimated cost of €1bn, federal Minister of Mobility & Transport Jacqueline Galant told parliament on January 23. Scheduled for delivery between ...
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NewsKKR buys ticket retailer Trainline
UK: Investment firm KKR announced its acquisition of online ticket retailer Trainline from Exponent Private Equity on January 22. Financial details are not being disclosed. Trainline is licensed to sell rail tickets on behalf of all UK Train Operating Companies, Deutsche Bahn and Trenitalia. KKR said Trainline had the ...
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NewsDolnośląskie awards new operating contract
POLAND: Dolnośląskie voivodship has awarded its in-house train operator Koleje Dolnośląskie a new eight-year contract to continue to operate local passenger services. The 500m złoty contract covers services totalling 35 million train-km/year which are currently operated by KD. It also has provision for KD to potentially take over other ...
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NewsDB Regio awarded S-Bahn Rhein-Neckar contract
GERMANY: Following an international tender, on January 15 the Baden-Württemberg, Rheinland-Pfalz Süd, Bergstraße and Saarland transport authorities jointly awarded incumbent DB Regio Südwest a contract to operate S-Bahn Rhein-Neckar Lot 1 services for 17 years from December 2016. The contract covers the operation of passenger services totalling 8 million ...
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NewsVeolia awarded Halle - Goslar contract
GERMANY: The Sachsen-Anhalt and Braunschweig transport authorities have awarded Veolia Verkehr a contract to operate Halle (Saale) – Aschersleben – Halberstadt – Wernigerode – Goslar passenger services for three years from December 2015. The service is to be branded as Harz-Elbe-Express Line 4, replacing the current Deutsche Bahn RE4. ...
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NewsNew competition for Mexico City – Querétaro high speed line
MEXICO: Tendering for the project to build a 210 km high speed line between Mexico City and Querétaro began again on January 14 when the Secretariat of Communications & Transport published ‘pre-bidding documentation’ for a contract including civil works, railway systems and rolling stock. SCT is aiming to award the ...
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NewsBattery train enters passenger service
UK: The prototype Independently Powered Electric Multiple-Unit has entered trial passenger service on the Manningtree –Harwich branch, where it is scheduled to operate on weekdays between January 12 and February 13. The IPEMU comprises a Bombardier Electrostar Class 379 four-car 25 kV 50 Hz EMU which has been retrofitted with ...
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NewsJoint venture to maintain Moroccan TGV fleet
MOROCCO: A joint venture is to be established during the first half of the year for the maintenance of high speed trainsets in Morocco as part of preparations to introduce Africa’s first high speed passenger service over the 320 km corridor between Tanger and Casablanca. Outlined at a ceremony in ...
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NewsArup to draw-up PRASA station master plans
SOUTH AFRICA: Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa has appointed Arup SA to develop master plans for the potential redevelopment of land around its major stations in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town. The ambition is to support regeneration by creating transport hubs with retail, office, social, health and leisure facilities. ...
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NewsThree bids for southern Bohemia passenger contract
CZECH REPUBLIC: State-owned ČD, DB subsidiary Arriva and ČSAD Jihotrans company GW Train Regio have submitted bids for a contract to operate regional services in the Šumava region of southern Bohemia. The contract runs from for 15 years from December 2016 and is potentially worth KC2·25bn. It covers the ...
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NewsFirst Hitachi IEP trainset sets off for the UK
UK: The first pre-series Class 800 trainset ordered under the Intercity Express Programme left Hitachi’s Kasado plant in Japan on January 7 for delivery to the UK. It is scheduled to be shipped from the port of Kobe on January 22 and arrive in the UK in March. The five-car ...
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NewsUrumqi – Lanzhou PDL completed as five lines open
CHINA: The 1 223 km eastern section of the Urumqi – Lanzhou Passenger-Dedicated Line between Hami and Lanzhou was opened for passenger service on December 26, little more than a month after the 553 km western section between Urumqi and Hami was opened on November 17. Designed for 250 km/h ...
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NewsBanknote processor reinvented
SWITZERLAND: Swiss engineering company CI Tech has unveiled its next-generation banknote processing unit. Developed over the past three years, the CI Note Line is intended to replace the supplier’s BIM and Lobby 90 designs, with a specific focus on ticket vending machines in the transport market, as well as retail ...
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NewsOsaka Loop trains
JAPAN: JR West announced on December 8 that it is to procure 21 eight-car electric multiple-units for the Osaka Loop Line. The Class 323 trains are to replace the older Class 103 and Class 201 EMUs. The Class 103 EMUs, delivered in 1964-84, are to be withdrawn completely from the ...
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NewsWellington rail operating contract shortlist announced
NEW ZEALAND: Greater Wellington Regional Council announced the shortlisted bidders for a contract to operate the capital’s suburban rail services on December 22. The tender forms part of a programme to procure ‘performance-based partnering contracts’ for all of Wellington’s public transport services The shortlisted bidders are: A joint venture of ...
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NewsChangsha – Huaihua high speed line opens
CHINA: The Changsha – Huaihua Passenger-Dedicated Line in Hunan province opened on December 16. Construction of the 416 km route with nine stations began in 2010. The alignment is designed for 350 km/h operation, but trains are currently limited to 300 km/h giving an end-to-end journey time of 1 h ...
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NewsWork starts on Chuo maglev
JAPAN: Central Japan Railway officially marked the start of work on the first phase of its Chuo Shinkansen superconducting maglev line between Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka with ceremonies at the Shinagawa and Nagoya station sites on December 17. According to JR Central, construction work on the 286 km between Tokyo ...